Under the Same Roof
by br0k3ncr4y0n5
Summary: Seth has a revelation. Things go from there. Yes, I know, it's a horrible summary. But I'm horrible at summaries. Rating for mature thoughts, though nothing too graphic as of yet, and slash. Probably not worth an R rating, but I like to take precautions.
1. Chapter 1

I guess this could take some time after the first season ends if you pretend Ryan and Seth never left and that Teresa person never existed. And though I don't remember if Summer and Seth were still together, we'll just use a bit of imagination to make it work. I'm not all too concerned with the when's of the story, and if thing don't make since I'll accept all the blame if you'll accept that I'm not changing them. I'm lazy. So nah.

Disclaimer: Story mine. Character not. I don't own O.C. Blah. Blah. Blah.

&

He couldn't deny it anymore. When Summer had broken up with him she had spoken of someone else. She had accused him of being in love with someone other than her. He had never been able to discern what she meant until very recently. At first he thought that she was accusing him of cheating on her, but Summer assured him that she knew he was being faithful to her, just not to his heart. He denied it, saying she was the only one he loved. She laughed and told him that's what she used to think, too. Now, he couldn't deny it anymore. This person, though… This person he was in love with was most definitely nothing like Summer. It wasn't even anyone of the fairer sex. And until just very recently he couldn't figure out who it was for the life of him.

It all started with the dreams. Even before he and Summer broke up, he had these strange dreams. They were always of him and some mystery man. They were earth shattering. Full of hot skin, flesh-to-flesh, kissing, touching, grinding. He found himself cleaning sheets and taking cold showers more and more often, and no amount of sex with Summer could stop the onslaught of what he had come to know quite fondly as his "big minty dreams." Because, despite how confusing and unethical he found them, he still enjoyed them very, very much, much to his dismay. What nagged him more than anything, though, was that his dreams were always with the same guy, and, up until very recently, he simply couldn't tell who it was. Now that he finally knew, though, it scared him more than anything.

&

"Seth," Kirsten yelled from downstairs, "Ryan's home!"

Seth sighed. Ryan has been spending two weeks in Chino with his mother, who was finally beginning to sober up and straighten out her life. Summer had broken up with him three days after Ryan left, and Seth had been staying up in his room for the past eleven days, only coming down for food or if Sandy or Kirsten called him down to do something for them.

As Seth came down from the stairs to see Ryan standing in the hallway, bags on the floor and being enveloped in a tight hug from Kirsten, Seth realized just how much he had missed him. Ryan. The object of his most erotic fantasies for the past month and a half.

"Hey, man," said Ryan as he let go of Kirsten.

"Hey," Seth said, wrapping his arms around Ryan much like Kirsten had done only moment before.

"Well, Sandy and I better get to work," said Kirsten as she looked at her watch.

"You can tell us all about your visit when we get home," Sandy smiled as he followed Kirsten out the door. Ryan nodded before picking his bags up off the floor.

"So," Seth said as he followed Ryan out the screen door to the pool house. "You'll never guess what happened while you were gone."

"What?" Ryan asked, stepping into the pool house and tossing his bags on the floor.

"Summer and I broke up," Seth said, looking down a bit.

"Why?" Ryan pressed, sounding a bit curious, if not confused.

"Well, um," Seth stumbled over his words.

"She said I was in love with someone else." This time Ryan's confusion was clearly evident. Who could Seth love more than Summer?

"Who?" Ryan asked.

"Well, aren't you full of one word responses," Seth said good-naturedly while avoiding answering Ryan's question, or at least trying to.

"You're avoiding the question," Ryan pointed out.

"I'd rather not say," Seth said, his face flushing from embarrassment.

"Well now you've got me interested," Ryan smiled. Seth blushed even redder.

"Believe me," Seth mumbled. "You don't want to know."

"It can't be that bad," Ryan said.

"It most definitely is." Seth wouldn't look at him.

"Come on," Ryan urged. "Marissa? Holly?" Seth cringed. "It can't be any worse."

"You're not even close," Seth sighed. "It's not any of the girls that go to our school."

"Apart from me, you don't even know anyone outside of school," Ryan laughed. Seth eye's widened as he realized the error in his words. Ryan noticed and stopped chuckling immediately.

"I, um, have to go," Seth said, beginning to retreat from the pool house. Ryan grabbed his arm.

"Wait," Ryan said, pulling Seth back into the pool house. "We should talk about this. You know, get it out in the open."

"Okay," Seth said uneasily. He still wouldn't look at Ryan, but he appeared less tense.

"So," Ryan said after a moment of silence. "Are you gay or bi?"

"I'm not really sure," Seth mumbled. "I mean, I've been finding more and more guys attractive lately. I still like girls, just not really as much any more. But it's really just one guy that I really like."

"How long?"

"A month or so, I guess…"

"Seth," Ryan said sternly, watching as Seth's face slowly began to flush again and he kept his gaze fixed on the floor. "Look at me." Seth looked up at him slowly and Ryan saw that his eyes were slightly glazed over, as if Seth was on the brink of tears.

"I'm sorry," Seth said quietly, looking away again.

"It's okay," Ryan assured him. "Nothing's going to change. We're still friends."

"Best friends?" Seth asked with a small smile. Ryan nodded, returning Seth's smile with a similar one of his own. Seth walked a bit closer and tentatively wrapped his arms around Ryan in a small hug, which Ryan returned without hesitation.

"Do your parents know?" Ryan questioned as the thought occurred to him.

Seth pulled away and gave Ryan an incredulous look. "Dude, I wasn't even going to tell you. And it's not exactly something you can squeeze into a conversation. I can see it now. 'Hey, mom, I'm slowly turning gay and have been having wet dreams about another guy on an almost nightly basis the past month and a half. By the way, how was your day?' Yeah, that'd turn out great."

"You can leave out the part about the wet dreams," Ryan said. "You really do need to tell them, though."

"I know," Seth said before suggesting they continue their conversation in the pool.

&

"So, how was your trip?" Seth asked Ryan from his place on the pool float.

"Fine," Ryan replied. "Couldn't have been better, actually."

"You don't sound too happy about it," Seth said, noticing the subtle undertone of his voice.

"It just seems too good to be true," Ryan confessed. "A part of me wants to believe she's changed, and another is waiting for her to screw up again."

Seth didn't know what to say, so he just nodded and concentrated on not staring at Ryan's broad shoulders, muscled arms, and finely chiseled abs.

"I'll be right back," Seth said quickly, climbing out of the pool and running into the house as a painfully detailed flashback of one of his more recent dreams forced their way to the surface.

'This is ridiculous,' Seth thought to himself. 'I can't even look at him without his shirt on without thinking of those big minty dreams.' He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a drink while trying to think of something to calm down his nether regions.

"Mind pouring me a glass?" Ryan asked, stepping into the kitchen, dripping wet and with a towel around his waist.

'So not helping,' Ryan thought to himself as he poured a second glass of tea.

"Thanks," Ryan smiled. Seth just nodded and put the tea back.

"What's up?" Ryan asked. "Your silence is beginning to scare me."

"You know how you're acting all accepting about the gay thing?" Ryan nodded. "You'll be okay with any minty comments I make then?"

"Sure," Ryan shrugged.

"Well, don't hold his against me, but if you don't put a shirt on soon I'm going to have the worst case of blue balls ever."

"Oh, sorry," Ryan said, quickly turning around and throwing a 'be right back' over his shoulder as he headed to the pool house. He came back in a typical wife beater and pair of jeans to find Seth in one of his vintage T-shirts and a pair of jeans that were ripped in the knees. He looked a great deal embarrassed and awkward when he saw Ryan come back in.

"Dude, I am so sorry," Seth said with a blush. "I swear I wasn't coming on to you or anything."

"It's fine," Ryan said, interrupting what he knew would've resulted in a long ramble.

"No, man, it's not okay," Seth continued. "I should be able to control things like that. I mean, Summer's boobs don't even turn me on the quickly. It's official. I really am gay."

"It's not the end of the world, Seth," Ryan said as Seth sat down and let his head fall on the counter.

"Isn't it ironic, though, dude, that as soon as Luke stops calling me a fag, I turn into one," Seth said, not bothering to lift his head as he spoke.

"Fag's a harsh word," Ryan said nonchalantly.

"But it's true," Seth replied desolately, lifting his head up briefly before sighing heavily and letting his head fall down again.

"What's true?" Kirsten asked as she walked into the kitchen, placing a few bags of take-out on the counter next to Seth.

"Nothing," Seth said quickly, snapping his head up.

&

"Cohen, how are you supposed to get over Chino if all you ever do is talk about him?" Summer asked, irritated.

"I'm not supposed to get over him, Summer," Seth said dejectedly. "I'm supposed to spend all day with the guy, wallow in my misery, dream about him, wallow some more, and then repeat the process until summer is over.

"That's it," Summer said. "You're going to the party with me, and Ryan, and Coop, and you're going to enjoy yourself."

"I'm perfectly miserable where I am right now, thank you," Seth said, turning onto his back to stare up at the ceiling from his place on the bed.

"I'm getting you out of this house if it's the last thing I do," Summer said, placing her hands on her hips determinedly.

"Good luck with that," Seth said without even blinking at her.

"I'll tell Ryan," Summer said threateningly.

"I don't believe you," Seth said in a tone he hoped would make him sound nonchalant.

"Ryan," Summer yelled loudly, "Seth wants to tell you something!"

"Like he's going to hear that," Seth scoffed. "How do you even know he's in the-"

"What's up?" Ryan asked as he opened the door, effectively cutting Seth off.

"Dude, how did you get here so fast?" Seth asked, sitting up slowly.

"I was just about to come up before Summer yelled," Ryan said. "So what did you want to tell me?"

"Seth's coming with us tonight, aren't you Seth?" Summer smiled at him in a way that clearly stated, 'I win.'

"Against my own will," Seth said, glaring at Summer.

"Hurry up and get ready," Summer said, ignoring his glare. "We'll be late." Ryan noticed the trade-offs, but said nothing as Summer pulled him out of the room.

&

OOC? If so, oops. I've seen the entire first season, but I haven't really watched the O.C. in a while and have only seen about four episodes of the second season. Yes, poor me. But knowing my O.C. obsessed sister she'll have the entire second season in no time. R&R! Please and thank you. Constructive criticism cherished. Flames ignored.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! I finally found the time to finish chapter 2! I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: Story mine. Characters not. I don't own O.C. Blah. Blah. Blah.

&

"Dude, that was awesome," Seth giggled as Ryan pilled him into the pool house, completely drenched. Needless to say, Seth was drunk so far out of his mind he could barely stand without someone supporting him.

The party had to of been the biggest bash of the summer, and with good reason considering how close the next school year was. Seth was wasted in less than an hour and after about two hours had passed he had jumped into the pool, fully clothed, and thankfully in the shallow end. He'd stumbled to the edge of the pool, where Ryan had pulled him out and taken him to the car. Ryan himself had only had a few beers and was more or less completely sober, trying to keep an eye on Seth so that he didn't hurt himself.

Ever since Seth had told him of his sexual preference he'd become more distant, still doing all the usual Seth things, but less often, spending more time alone in his room. Ryan was becoming increasingly worried about him.

"Let's get you out of these wet clothes before you catch a cold," Ryan said, laying Seth down on his bed. He couldn't take Seth in the house. Kirsten would flip.

Seth giggled again as Ryan began to pull off his shirt, Seth being in no state to do it himself. He began to wonder just how many drinks Seth must have had to get like this as he discarded Seth's wet T-shirt when he was jolted out of his thoughts by something moving up his back.

"Seth?" Ryan asked cautiously as the boy ran his hands up and down Ryan's back before moving them to rest on the back of his neck.

"Hmm?" Seth giggled for the umpteenth time that night.

"Seth, what are you do-"

Before Ryan could finish his sentence Seth pulled him down and kissed him long and hard, and Ryan couldn't pull away because the only thoughts going through his head were that he was being kissed by Seth and it didn't bother him nearly as much as he knew it should have. And before he knew it he was kissing him back, and Seth's hands sliding down his sides and wrapping around his waist felt so much better than he knew they should've. And then, as they finally parted for air, he came back to his senses and pulled away from Seth as fast as he could, and Seth looked hurt, but soon all the alcohol he drank earlier finally consumed him entirely and he passed out, falling into a dreamless sleep. And Ryan was more confused than ever.

&

Seth woke up with a groan. The light was practically blinding him, his head was pounding, and he felt as though he could throw up in any moment.

'Where am I?' Seth thought to himself as he shielded his eyes and looked around the pool house. His stomach suddenly gave a very large lurch. Quickly clamping a hand over his mouth he ran to the bathroom before emptying the contents of his stomach. He vaguely remembered a party, lots of drinking, and a pool, but other than that his mind was blank.

"You okay?" Ryan asked at the door. Seth was about to answer but his stomach gave another lurch and Seth soon found his head over the toilet again.

"Peachy," Seth said as he stood up, reaching for a washcloth and then wetting it to wipe his face before turning on the sink and trying to rinse the awful taste from his mouth.

"Brought you some coffee," Ryan said, raising a mug Seth only just realized he'd been holding. "And some aspirin."

"Thanks," Seth said with a small smile as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"You were pretty smashed last night," Ryan said a bit uneasily. "What exactly do you remember?"

"I think I may have jumped into a pool," Seth laughed. "That's about it."

"Oh, Ryan said, nearly sighing in relief.

Seth sipped at the coffee before downing the two pills Ryan had given him. That's when he spotted his shirt, still slightly wet, lying near the bed.

/Flashback/

"Lets get you out of these wet clothes before you catch a cold," Ryan said, laying Seth down on the bed.

/End Flashback/

"You okay?" Ryan asked.

"Huh?" Seth said, snapping his attention back to Ryan.

"You spaced out there," Ryan frowned.

"Just remember something from last night," Seth smiled. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"No problem," Ryan said, the uneasy tone back in his voice. He wondered just how much the other remembered.

&

When school started back again everything went back to normal. Ryan was confident Seth hadn't and wouldn't remember the events of the past week, Seth was confident Ryan hadn't and wouldn't find out about his secret crush, and Summer was just happy to get away from Seth and his constant whining and moping.

Wait. Did I say _everything_ went back to normal? I'm sorry. I forgot about the events of the remaining week of summer.

Seth had told his parents of his new preference in sexuality. Ever since then Sandy had become more awkward around his son, though still complete accepting. Kirsten was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't have any grandchildren, something she hid well, and began to watch Seth's actions around Ryan warily, something else she hid well with the exception of spilling her suspicions that Seth liked Ryan to Sandy. She acted normally around Seth otherwise.

Ryan had been having strange thoughts, too, ever since the morning after the party. Did he want Seth to remember what had happened? Why did he enjoy the kiss so much? Was he gay? Bi? Did he like men, but had never dwelled on the thought before? Or was it just Seth? And what was it about Seth that even made Ryan question his own sexuality? Certainly a single kiss couldn't make or break his sexuality, could it? He could think of only one thing to do…

&

Ryan walked up the stairs to Seth's room. He couldn't believe he was going to do this. It was ridiculous, and yet, he just couldn't ignore it. Slowly making his way down the hall he raised his hand to knock on the door, took a deep breath, and then stopped his hand about half an inch from the door. Seth had just moaned, loudly. Ryan pressed his ear to the door. He could hear Seth's breathing slowly even out and it occurred to Ryan exactly what he had just been doing. He could feel his face redden most uncharacteristically. He took a few seconds to calm himself and, trying to look as normal as possible, knocked on the door. He heard Seth yelp and mutter a low curse under his breath.

"Just a second," Seth called. A few moments later Seth pulled open the door looking as though he'd just ran a mile. The covers looked as though they'd been hastily pulled up and Ryan could smell the faint scent of what smelled like cologne, probably sprayed by Seth so that every last it of evidence of what he'd just done was covered, from sight to smell.

"What's up?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing, really," Seth said nervously. "Just doing some stuff, you know. Reading comics, looking up a few things on the computer…"

"Masturbating…" Ryan put in with a very convincing laugh, despite how uneasy he felt.

"Yeah, well," Seth blushed.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," laughed Ryan.

"Easy for you to say," mumbled Seth. He'd just had the most delicious thoughts about Ryan and wasn't sure if or when he'd moaned out Ryan's name, and if he had he was scared stiff that Ryan may have heard it and was just being nice by acting like he hadn't. "How much did you hear exactly?"

"Nothing, really," Ryan said, trying his best to keep the uneasiness out of his tone as he remembered the moan he had heard out in the hallway that had come so close to turning him on as quickly as a moan from any girl would.

"Good," Seth said after a while, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed while Ryan sat down in a nearby chair. "So, did you want something?"

"Yeah," Ryan said slowly. "I was just wondering, well, how exactly you found out that you were gay…" Seth blushed.

"Well, um, I guess it all s-started with the dreams…" he said uncomfortably.

"Dreams?" Ryan asked, faintly recalling Seth mentioning wet dreams sometime around when Seth came out to him.

"Yeah," Seth nodded. "They were always with… this one guy, and we, well, you know." Ryan nodded. "They happened pretty often, nearly every night, even when I was with Summer. After that it was pretty much just me finding a bunch of guys hot, Summer dumping me, and me coming to terms with the fact that I just didn't like girls any more."

"If you still liked girls, though, you'd be bi, right?" Ryan asked.

"I guess so, yeah," Seth said, a bit confused.

"What if you only like one guy, though?" Ryan asked. "Or if you liked kissing a guy, but didn't know if you were attracted to them."

"I'm not really sure," Seth said after a moment. "Kissing a guy isn't really that much different from kissing a girl, I guess, not that I would know. I've never actually kissed a guy in person. Just because I'm gay now doesn't mean I've suddenly become an expert. Why do you want to know, anyways?"

"No reason," Ryan said quickly. "Just curious."

"You are okay with me being gay, right?" Seth asked suddenly. "You're not trying to find a loop hole in this so you can convince yourself I'm not gay are you? Because if you feel uncomfortable-"

"No, it's not that," Ryan told Seth sincerely. "I have nothing against you being gay."

"Okay," Seth said, though he still sounded a bit uneasy.

'Maybe I should just tell him,' Ryan thought to himself. 'Seth would understand, and he'd be able to help wouldn't he? What harm could it do?'

"You remember that party we went to a while ago, don't you?" Ryan asked after a while, a sinking feeling making its way into his stomach at what he was about to do; what he was about to admit.

"The one where I jumped into a pool?" Seth asked with a laugh.

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "And you couldn't remember anything after I took you home?"

"I remember you saying something about taking off my wet clothes so I wouldn't get sick," Seth said.

"Well, that's not exactly all that happened…" Ryan said, looking down. "After I took off your shirt you started running your hands up an down my back, and then you, um, well-"

"Oh god," Seth said, burying his face in his hands, not fully wanting to hear what Ryan was about to say.

"Then you pulled me down and kissed me," Ryan said after a moment. "The thing is, though, I wasn't exactly grossed out by it, and after you wrapped your arms around my waist I couldn't really help but k-kiss you back," Ryan admitted guiltily. Seth looked up at this point, his eyes wide. "Now I just don't know what to think."

"That's why you asked, isn't it?" Seth said after a moment. "You think you might be gay or bi or something?"

"I don't know what to think anymore," Ryan admitted solemnly.

"You enjoyed the kiss, though?" Seth asked, almost hopefully. Ryan nodded. "You'd be willing to do it again?" Ryan nodded once again, much more slowly and only after a few moments in which he seemed lost in thought.

"Not with just anyone, though," Ryan said. "I don't think I'd be willing to do that with any other guy…"

"So you're completely straight, with the exception of me?" Seth asked a few seconds later.

"I guess," Ryan said. "You make it sound so much easier." He laughed nervously.

"If you really want to find out, we could kiss again," Seth said with a small smile. Ryan seemed to think it over for a bit before finally standing up. For a moment Seth thought he was going to leave, that Seth had scared him away by taking a chance and being too forward, but instead Ryan walked over to him slowly, reaching up a tentative hand to slowly place around his neck.

Seth nearly gasped as Ryan placed his mouth tentatively against his own, the kiss small and gentle. Seth wrapped his arms around Ryan's shoulders, slowly deepening the kiss, giving the shorter man plenty of time to back out. It was a strange experience for Seth. Instead of Ryan being the strong, confident one Seth was, for Ryan seemed so nervous about this. The kiss, once deepened by Seth, was quickly heating up as Ryan became a bit more comfortable with it. He slowly made his way onto the bed, pulling Seth farther back so Seth could lie down comfortably while Ryan straddled him, moving his hand from behind his neck to run one of his hands through Seth's curly hair and the other down Seth's side while Seth clung onto Ryan, pulling him closer until he was practically lying on top of him. Seth's hands quickly made their way under Ryan shirt, running his hands along the bare flesh of Ryan's back before pulling it off over the boy's head, the two of them separating for a mere second to tug it over Ryan's head before discarding it on the ground, picking up where they left off without another thought.

They didn't realize how lost they were in their kissing and touching or how far they'd really gone until a loud gasp emitted from the doorway as Kirsten quickly mumbled a short apology and began to walk out of the room, turning around right before she exited to tell the two wide-eyed boys looking up at her that they'd talk later, and then leaving, closing the door behind her.

&

I still have to wonder if I'm going about this rather OOC, but then again, I always worry about that. No one really knows how a character would act in any given situation but the creator, and I'm not the creator (such a pity, really, but not something to dwell on). R&R! Please and thank you. Constructive criticism cherished. Flames ignored.


End file.
